


A Debt to Owe

by ThePrimeOne



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alcohol, Anna pulls up on Balthus, Debt, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23788276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrimeOne/pseuds/ThePrimeOne
Summary: Balthus is neck deep in debts he owes to too many people, but he never expected that one of them would be a next door neighbour of sorts.
Relationships: Anna/Balthazar von Adalbrecht | Balthus von Albrecht
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. C

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh, I don't know how to write either of these characters, so apologies if they're ooc... but I needed to get this off my chest. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Balthus stares at the list of items the Professor had passed onto him, every name written in such delicately neat handwriting that seemed so unlike every other mercenary he'd met before. 

"Geez, did we really use that much stock in our last mission? Maybe I ought to dial it back a bit," Balthus scratches his head.

"Hard to believe I'm running errands like I'm in school again too… Then again I guess I  _ am _ technically in school again, huh?" Balthus says aloud to no one in particular as he makes his way to the large marketplace outside Garreg Mach's main building. Waves of nostalgia wash over him as he overlooks the marketplace that's changed so much, yet somehow hasn't changed at all.

Balthus mingles amongst the crowd and eyes a particular shop that catches his fancy.

"You!" Balthus freezes when a familiar voice reaches his ears- one of which is suddenly pulled on violently, a smaller woman dragging him out of the crowd that's staring at the pair.

"Ow, ow! What the hell?!" Balthus exclaims as he's led away to Garreg Mach's gate, the smaller woman finally letting go. "What was that for, Lady?" Balthus groans, pressing a hand to his ear.

"Don't 'Lady' me! You know who I am, so no excuse is going to cut it, Balthus!"

"What are you talking about…?"

Balthus' mouth drops as he takes in the image of the cross woman that dragged him out of the crowd. The woman in question was one hadn't seen in years, and would have preferred to keep that way if only for how deep in debt he was.

_ Ah shit. _

"...Anna? is that you?”

The redhead crosses her arms, her unimpressed glare bearing into Balthus. “Of course it’s me! Who else would I be?”

Balthus thinks back for a moment to their last encounter, any semblance of shock now evaporated from his face. “Well, now that I think about it, that  _ was _ a pretty silly question. You really haven’t changed since we last saw each other- except that you used to wear your hair out.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “Of course you remember something so mundane like that instead of the problem at hand.”

Bathlus pulls his eyebrows together as a frown appears on his face, legitimately confused. “What? It was a good look for you, and besides...”

Anna’s cheeks heat up slightly when she presses a finger to his lips, silencing him immediately. “And besides, you need to stop changing the topic,” Anna huffs, moving her finger from his lips and crossing her arms once again. “It’s been a little over five years. Where have you been, and why are you here, Balthus?”

The tall man blinked in surprise at the woman’s question. “Wow. The first question you ask is about me and not asking about the money I owe you? Maybe you have changed more than I thought…”

“Well, since you’ve mentioned it: where’s the money you owe me, big guy?” Anna scowls.

“Ugh, great. Walked right into that one, Balthus,” the towering man muttered under his breath. “Anna, look. I’m not exactly in the best monetary situation right now, and I…”

Anna releases an exasperated sigh. “Oh brother. You’re STILL that far in debt?”

Balthus scrunches his nose and shrugs. “Well... yeah? You already know people are- were after my head, and probably would be again if it weren’t for the Abyss and the Professor convincing the Church to put us under their protection. That being said, I still owe people money. It’s why I took off after that incident all those years ago and ended up in Abyss.”

Anna feels an expression of grimace rise up on her face when memories she’d rather forget about leap to the forefront of her mind.

“You still didn’t answer the other question Balthus,” Anna says, her expression swapping from grimace to a deadpan stare in an instant. Balthus holds up his hands feigning surrender.

“But I did? I’ve been in Abyss for years and I’m here because Abyss and everyone that lives there is being protected by the church,” Balthus reiterates wondering what he did wrong. Anna rubs her forehead in such utter frustration that Balthus swore Anna was going to bust a vein.

Anna connects the dots and her jaw drops. “Wait- you were in Abyss all this time?!”

“Uh, yeah. I was.”

“All that time and you didn’t… oh whatever,” Anna dismisses the topic with a sharp tone. The young woman turns back to her stall nearby and glances at him expectantly. “Well? What do you need, hm? Did the Professor ask for just the usual?”

“H-how did you…?”

“The handwriting. Very distinct for a merc, isn’t it? More akin to a business woman, but I digress,” Anna cuts the small talk off quickly, her hand outstretched in Balthus’ direction. The man eyes the list, then Anna as he passes over the note. The redhead reads over the long list and widens her eyes in surprise. 

“What on earth?” the young woman gapes. “No wonder she asked  _ you _ to get all this. Must’ve gotten into a real jam to get a list like this,” she says, sufficiently bewildered as Anna begins gathering the requested items.

“Yeah, don’t get me started,” Balthus groans.

Anna places multiple stacks of vulneraries in a box and raises an eyebrow. “Let me guess. You got ahead of yourself and charged into battle willy nilly? And you probably did that without a shirt on and no armour like you used to back in the academy days didn’t you? Talk about me not changing, you really haven’t changed, huh?” Anna grills Balthus, resisting the temptation to stare at his body that somehow became more defined than in years past.

Balthus scratches the back of his head, unable to counter her claims. “So, uh, how about a discount, hm? I’m sure you’re willing to negotiate something to celebrate our reunion” Balthus says, a little hopeful as he changes the topic on a dime, before his face arches down into a frown when Anna shakes her head. 

“Don’t get any funny ideas. I’m normally generous enough to strike a deal, but not today. I’m still torn over letting that kid from the monastery get the best of me. Didn’t help he had an audience either.” Anna frowns, evidently disappointed in herself.

“Oh. You mean Ashe? That was you? You mean the discount Petra was parading about was out of  _ you _ ?” Balthus snickers. “If a kid like him can pull it off, then maybe even I could get a discount off the debt I owe you,” the man heartily laughs- and would have continued had he not seen Anna contemplate his suggestion for a split second.

Unfortunately, Anna recovers quickly and reaches up to poke his arm. “Yeah right. You still owe me money, so you better not go and drink and gamble anything you scrounge up away,” she grunts, slamming two more heavy boxes of items onto the counter.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you,” Balthus mutters under his breath, surprised at her strength despite her small frame.

Picking up all four boxes that stacked on each other with relative ease, Balthus looks ahead towards the monastery, feeling a sudden need to avoid eye contact with Anna.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again Anna. Hope, uh, your business stuff goes well for you and what not,” Balthus awkwardly farewells her and trudges off.

“Balthus.”

The older man turns back to Anna. “Yes?”

“Don’t do anything stupid again, okay?”

Balthus’ features soften hearing the tone of Anna’s voice. “Anna…”

“After all, you still owe me!” the younger woman exclaims, crossing her arms, her turn to avoid eye contact with him. “I’m still in debt even all these years later from you, so I’m not letting you off the hook so easily!”

Balthus had a sinking feeling that she had more to say… but he’d let it go for now.

The man grins. “Sure thing, Anna! I’ll have your money back to you in no time. Just uh… give me more time, okay?”

Anna huffs. “Well, it’s already been five years. A little more time can’t hurt…”


	2. B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna runs into a familiar face at Abyss' Wilting Rose Inn, and it does nothing to help her mood.

Anna didn’t know what she was expecting, going down into Abyss to negotiate a deal with the Ashen Wolves’ leader, Yuri. The man was quite the enigma, keeping her on her toes in their discussions, which utterly tired her out; something she’d much rather deal with twice than be in the situation she finds herself in now. Anna looks at Balthus’ back with an unimpressed stare as he chugs down a drink at the bar at the Wilting Rose Inn and slams the mug onto the bench.

“Now _that_ was terrible, pal! Definitely one of the worst drinks that have ever had the opportunity to curse my taste buds in a long time,” Balthus exclaims with a mirthful laugh. The sound of it makes her chest tighten, and Anna can hear the grin in his voice as he slides gold towards the bartender. “I’ll have another one!”

Her eyes widen in alarm as she eyes the gold that shines on the bench between the two men. Instinctively, she marches towards them with fire in her eyes as she watches him throw away money, a sight she was all too familiar with, from Balthus.

She barely made it halfway across the room before the bartender took notice. He looks at Balthus and tilts his head in her direction silently. The taller man glances back and freezes like a deer in torchlight.

His eyes widen, and suddenly the discarded gold is in his hands again. The sight would have been amusing in most other situations.

To her dismay, surprise evaporates from his face, and Balthus grins widely at her. “Oh, hey Anna,” Balthus nods at her. “You’ve already finished your meeting with Yuri? I was about to get the night started with some pre-drinks before everyone else showed up. Wanna join me? You look like you need to loosen up a little.”

“Balthus, are you really lacking that much self-awareness?” Anna scowls at him.

“No, no, of course, I’m not,” Balthus shakes his head. He gathers up the coins into a neat stack and holds it out to her. “Here. It won’t make much of a dent in my debt I owe you, but it’s better than nothing, right?”

Anna marches to the bench and takes a seat next to Balthus. With a frustrated sigh, she takes the money and slides it back to the bartender. “I’ll get one of what he got.”

The bartender takes the gold, nods, and tends to her order. 

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re getting a drink after all that? I know that was hardly anything, but now I’ll be back at square one with my debt to you,” he balks at Anna. The redhead shakes her head.

“No… it won’t,” Anna yawns, leaning into her left hand. “I needed a drink anyway because today was a _disaster_ ,” she groans. “I’ll just pretend I took it out of my own pocket.”

“Huh,” Balthus blinks, surprised. “Well, that’s... awfully nice of you,” he mumbles suspiciously. “So. Why the change of heart?”

Anna stops for a moment and thinks about his question for a moment before she gives in and shrugs. “Spur of the moment thing. Too tired to care.”

“Right. So it won’t happen again then,” Balthus nods understandably. Before she had a chance to respond, the bartender places a large mug filled with a dark substance before her. Anna stares down at it quizzically.

“You’re up,” Balthus remarks with a knowing smile. “A good old mug of Dagda Stout. The real good stuff,” says Balthus, his description contradicting his previous statement before. She didn’t care to give that much thought- better that she drink it instead of Balthus.

Anna grabs the mug carefully and tilts her head back as she chugs the entirety of the drink down, despite how terrible it tastes, even compared to other drinks she’s had before. She slams it down onto the bench and wipes residue off her face with her arm.

“Wow. Colour me impressed.”

Anna raises an eyebrow. “Hm?” 

“I didn’t know you could drink like that, is all. I still remember when you could hardly drink a sip of the lighter stuff way back when. Still, it was pretty bad, wasn’t it? The drink, I mean.”

Anna glances at the empty mug. “Absolutely disgusting,” she agrees with her old classmate and scrunches her nose. “I can’t believe you were asking for seconds.”

“Most drinks taste pretty bad, to be fair. It’s mostly a recreational thing.”

“Yeah. Recreational,” she hummed disapprovingly.

“You know, it’s been a while since we were last talking to each other like this- too long,” Balthus quickly changes the subject. “You ever miss our academy days, Anna? I can’t say I often do, but I do get a little nostalgic every now and then, especially after a drink or two,” grins Balthus. “You remember the prank Holst got in trouble for?”

A small smirk creeps up on Anna’s face. “You mean when you forced Holst to put a mouse down the back of the shirt of one of our classmates and got caught by Seteth?”

“Ah, forced is a bit of a strong word, but you’re right, that’s the one!” Balthus throws his head back and barks in laughter. “When I told him I’d never let him live that scolding down, I meant it; I’m just glad I wasn’t the only one who remembers.”

“It’s hard to forget someone like goody-two-shoes Holst being lectured by Seteth,” Anna muses, as her fingers rhythmically tap the bench. Balthus chuckles again before he goes silent. The mood turns awkward as neither of them speaks for some time before Balthus clears his throat.

“Hey, Anna. Just so you know, I have been saving up most of the gold I can. I promise you the drinks were going to be one-offs from me… two offs, I guess. Yuri was going to pay for the rest.”

Anna sighs, disappointment evident in her voice. “Balthus, you really have no sense of responsibility, do you?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Balthus stares down at his long-finished drink. “If you had asked me that a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t deny it; especially with this bounty hanging over my head. With all the enemies I’ve made outside of Garreg Mach too- most wanting me dead and one wanting me alive -hearing that isn’t a surprise anymore.”

Balthus picks up his mug and consumes the remaining drops of the drink. “Despite that... I do feel like I have a bit of responsibility, you know?”

“Really? How do you suppose _that_?” she asks, curious.

“Well, sure, I might’ve spent gold on two drinks now, but compared to even a few months ago, I’ve spent barely a drop of what little I’ve saved. I’ve spent less betting on fights and buying food for the others in my house. Yuri, Constance, Hapi- they’ve all said something about how I don’t spend as usually do when I manage to come by the money I can scrape together. And I have you to thank for that.”

Anna looks at Balthus and stares at him, bewildered. “Me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Balthus nods and makes eye contact with her before he quickly breaks it. “Seeing you here at Garreg Mach, it reminded me of when we last saw each other. Not exactly in the best of circumstances,” Balthus’ says with a withered smile.

“After we parted ways, I’d heard that you had to start from the bottom again with nothing to your name. Now, look at you—one of the most well-renowned merchants in all of Fodlan. You’re trading goods from all different corners of the world all-around Fodlan. Seeing how far you’d come, and how stuck in the past I was? That became a bit of a wake-up call for me. Figured I’d try to get my act together just a little. So yeah. Thanks for that.”

Anna had no clue what to say. Of course, it all went back to that incident. What could she say? That it wasn’t his fault? He’d never agree to that. He’d only ever say…

The redhead only finds it in her to force a smile back at Balthus. “Well, I’m glad that you’ve finally decided to get your act together. Maybe you can stop drinking unnecessarily and making ridiculous bets on fights.”

“And pay you back too,” Balthus reminds her, not that she’d forgotten.

“Right. That too.”

There’s a short pause in their conversation before Balthus clears his throat.

“So. I heard from a certain someone that you’re going on a bit of an expedition next month, and that you have to travel away from Garreg Mach. If you need extra muscle to help you with anything, then count me in.”

Anna arches one of her brows. “While there’s more than meets the eye when trying to go on expeditions, I’m not going far- just down as far as Varley to conduct some business for the Church and investigate an area that may have had some treasures once belonging to House Varley if my intel is good.”

“And all that tells me is that you need someone to watch your back,” Balthus smirks.

“I’ve survived just fine on my own before, Balthus,” Anna huffs. “And you’d be doing a lot for someone who only wants to volunteer; and I highly doubt Seteth would allow for it, considering your reputation.”

“Well… hey wait a minute,” Balthus mumbles, and his eyes light up. “I can work for you- like a bodyguard or something. And once we get back, I can help you sell you some of your wares on top of doing my usual work. That Seteth guy ought to be OK with it since it’s work related to the Church, yeah? That way, I can ease up on the debts that I owe you _and_ the Church. Two birds with one stone. Heh, this is brilliant!”

Anna had to admit: she wanted the idea to make total sense. Balthus still didn’t account for the fact he has a bounty on top of his head outside of Garreg Mach. Anna bites her lip. Despite her love for her work, her sudden reunion with the towering man had made her realise she (usually) missed Balthus’ antics, even years later. She came to the guilty realisation that she’d have to string him along a little longer than she originally wanted to.

“Wow. I guess you really weren’t lying about having a sense of responsibility now. Alright then- I accept.”

“Just like that? Alright! That’s what I like to hear!” Balthus grinned.

Anna breathes a sigh of relief she didn’t know she was holding. The redhead pushes herself off the stool and steps back. “In that case,” she says and stops for a yawn. “I’ll speak to Seteth. He really can’t say no. At least I hope that’s the case.”

“You hope?” Balthus asks with furrowed brows. Said brows loosen as Balthus leans onto the bar. “Aw, you really care. That’s so unlike you,” the man teases with a silly smile.

_No, It’s not,_ something in her wanted to say, but she held her tongue before saying irrational.

“Sure, something like that,” Anna rolls her eyes and quickly turns away before he could ask any more questions. “Anyway. I’m going to hit the hay. Goodnight Balthus. And don’t do anything reckless just because Yuri’s paying for your drinks,” she lectures him.

Balthus goofily beams at her, holds his hands up and feigns surrender. “Yes, Ma’am.” The redhead rolls her eyes and barely makes it halfway between the bar and the exit before Balthus calls to her.

“Anna.”

She stops in her tracks and turns on her heels to face him.

“By the way? Don’t worry about taking that little bit of gold off of what I owe you,” Balthus says, and Anna’s hands ball up on reaction. Balthus’ smile softens, and Anna can see the sadness in his eyes- a rare sight for how upbeat he was. 

_He’d only ever say…_

“Don’t worry about feeling sorry for me. All the mess I’m drowning in is my own fault. It’s on me to accept responsibility for that, not you. It’s my burden I should bear alone.”

Anna gives him a blank stare and silently turns away. She doesn’t turn back to her old classmate again, barely acknowledging his words and the remaining Ashen Wolves that pass her as she strides out of the Wilting Rose Inn and Abyss. When the merchant steps out above ground, Anna is met with the evening sky and fresh air in and surrounding the monastery.

“You dummy... it shouldn’t be,” she whispers to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After nearly a year, I've finally updated this fic... it's about time.
> 
> Ngl, I still don't know how to write Balthus, so hopefully it's not too out of character (that being said, there's a reason why there's a lack of 'pal' being said to Anna). Speaking of, thankfully Anna's almost a blank slate so I don't have to worry too much.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated, as usual!

**Author's Note:**

> So that was... interesting. 
> 
> It's currently up in the air rn whether or not I want to have this be a full blown support chain, but I'm definitely considering it. We'll see.
> 
> Anyway, please feel free to leave a kudos, comment, bookmark, and so on. You do you, and have a good one!


End file.
